Wild plants of Cereus robinii, key tree-cactus, disappeared from 

 Key West about 1915 but persist at Big Pine Key. 



All but 9 of the 98 species of tropical hardwoods shown in this 

 volume on large maps are native south into the Florida Keys. Also, 

 13 of the more northern tree species on the small maps occur in the 

 keys. Thus, the Florida Keys have about 102 species of native trees. 



Only about 13 species of native trees are confined to the Florida 

 Keys and absent from the mainland (Little 1976). However, all 

 reappear in the West Indies. The list follows: 



Acacia choriophylla, cinnecord 



Acacia macracantha, long-spine acacia 



Cereus robinii. key tree-cactus 



Clusia rosea. Florida clusia 



Cupania glabra. Florida cupania 



Drypetes diversijolia, milkbark 



Exostema caribaeum. princewood 



Guaiacum sanctum, roughbark lignumvitae 



Gyminda latifolia. falsebox 



Pisonia rotundata. pisonia 



Pseudophoenix sargentii, buccaneer-palm 



Savia bahamensis. maidenbush 



Zanthoxylum flavum. West Indies satin wood 



Fortunately, small areas of natural vegetation are in preserves. 

 Biscayne National Monument near the northeast end of the island 

 chain contains several keys, including Sands, Elliott. Old Rhodes, 

 and Totten. Everglades National Park embraces numerous small 

 isles in Florida Bay and a ranger station on Key Largo. Lignum 

 Vitae State Park preserves that tree on the key with the same name. 

 National Key Deer Refuge occupies parts of Big Pine Key and 

 adjacent keys. 



RARE AND LOCAL SPECIES 



The maps of this Atlas show clearly which species are confined 

 to limited geographical areas. From these trees of local occur- 

 rence, lists of rare and endangered species may be compiled. The 

 subject of rare and local trees is being treated in a series of sepa- 

 rate reports. 



The first report, "Rare and Local Conifers in the United States" 

 (Little 19751, cites northwestern Florida's 2 very rare species of 

 the yew family. Taxaceae, mentioned below. "Rare Tropical Trees 

 of South Florida" (Little 1976), the second report, compiles the 

 distribution of 60 species of rare tropical trees of the 3 southern- 

 most counties. 



The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (U.S. Public Law 93-205, 

 approved Dec. 28, 1973) directed the Smithsonian Institution to 

 prepare a list of proposed endangered and threatened plant species. 

 Accordingly, the Secretary (Smithsonian Institution 1975) pre- 

 sented to the Congress on Dec. 15. 1974, its 200-page "Report on 

 Endangered and Threatened Plant Species of the United States." 



The Act also provides that the Secretary of the U.S. Department 

 of the Interior must study the Smithsonian Institution's prelimi- 

 nary lists of species and determine whether or not any species is 

 truly threatened or endangered. At this time, no species has offi- 

 cially been so classified by the Secretary. However, a list of pro- 

 posed endangered status for some 1,700 United States vascular 

 plant taxa has been published (U.S. Department of the Interior, 

 Fish and Wildlife Service 1976) . Thus, the proposed threatened 

 and endangered species are tentative or preliminary and will re- 

 main so until the Secretary makes a final determination — possibly 

 several years in the future. 



Next, a few definitions. A rare species has small numbers of in- 

 dividuals throughout its range, which may be restricted or wide- 

 spread. The term local species is used here for a species of 

 relatively small range, such as a small part of a State or a few 

 islands, but which is sufficiently common not to be called rare. A 

 species whose range is limited to a particular named area, usually 

 small, is cited as endemic. Border or peripheral species reach the 

 limit of their natural range a short distance into the United States, 

 where they may be classed also as rare or local. An extinct species 

 (recently or possibly extinct) is no longer known to exist after re- 

 peated search of the type locality and other known or likely places. 



As defined in the Act, "the term 'endangered species' means any 

 species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a sig- 

 nificant portion of its range. . . ." "The term 'threatened species' 

 means any species which is likely to become an endangered species 

 within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant por- 

 tion of its range." At present, no plant species has been officially 

 classified as endangered or threatened. 



Some rare and local tree species are also on the lists of proposed 

 endangered and threatened species compiled by the Smithsonian 

 Institution (1975). However, border or peripheral species gener- 

 ally are excluded by definition. Examples are many from the 

 West Indies also in South Florida. Border species could become 

 extinct in the United States and still be common in a neighbor- 

 ing country. 



Fortunately, the preliminary lists for the continental United 

 States contain only about 32 species (also 11 varieties) of trees 

 (Little 1975b). This Atlas volume contains maps of the Florida 

 tree species listed, 5 proposed as endangered and 5 proposed as 

 threatened. However, the number of species of rare trees is some- 

 what larger. 



The taxonomic rank of several rare and local Florida trees is 

 subject to differences of opinion. The same variation may be 

 treated as a distinct species, as a variety, or as an unnamed form. 

 A few weak varieties are not mentioned. Also, the genus haw- 

 thorn, Crataegus, has been omitted because of taxonomic difficul- 

 ties, though several local species have been named from northern 

 Florida. 



A separate list of rare and endangered Florida plants has been 

 prepared by the Special Committee on Plants, Florida Committee 

 on Rare and Endangered Plants and Animals. This larger list 

 contains some northern species that reach their southern limit in 

 northern Florida. Though rare within this State, these species 

 would not be threatened with extinction. The preliminary list for 

 Florida contains 8 tree species proposed as endangered, 7 as 

 threatened, and 8 as rare. All native palms and several other 

 named tree species are protected by Florida law. 



Florida has three geographic centers of local species, or of 

 endemism. One is in northwestern Florida, from the Apalachicola 

 River westward. Another is the sandhill or lake region in the central 

 part. The third is the tropical region of South Florida including 

 the Florida Keys. Tree examples in each center are mentioned 

 below. Species on the lists of proposed endangered and threatened 

 species are indicated. 



i Northwestern Florida 



Northwestern Florida, the oldest part of the State geologically 

 and the highest in altitude, has several local tree species and many 



17 



